Not With a Bang: Iran’s Diminishing Internet

Increasingly fearful that the Arab Spring will soon sweep Persia, Iran’s leaders have acted quietly but aggressively to tighten access to the internet, including new restrictions on the media and internet cafés. Of cials are following through on plans to block access to virtual private networks (VPNs), a circumvention technology through which a large number of Iranians accessed uncensored news services, including the BBC. By early January, censors had begun disrupting encrypted connections through a process called deep-packet inspection, rendering access to sites such as the BBC extremely challenging.